Health campaigner Dr Lance O'Sullivan says he could have had mobile medical clinics ready months ago to use in emergencies, but the Ministry of Health would not listen.
It comes as the government says mobile testing units for Covid-19 could be considered.
Dr O'Sullivan told Checkpoint he has spent the last year trying to get his idea for shipping container clinics off the ground, so they can service needy communities with the ability to be packed up and moved to hotspots within 24 hours during a pandemic.
The containers will be set up with a consultation room, reception, triage area and toilet.
It will also have a drive-through window, so people with Covid-19 or infectious diseases can be tested without leaving the car.
Dr O'Sullivan said the container clinics need to be built now.
"There's already a pressing need, already a significant shortage of health services, and people were waiting up to four to five weeks to just see a GP for their current problems.
"You overlay the Covid virus, as we go into an influenza season, which is the winter in New Zealand, and we will not cope. But there's a real opportunity with a bit of creative thought and innovation that we could actually turn it into a very accessible and meaningful health service for communities around New Zealand," Dr O'Sullivan said.
"The difference here is - why don't we just keep you in your car, because it'd be better if you don't come into our clinic and talk to a nurse or a glass window. Why don't we keep you in the car and do an assessment, through the window.
"One of the tests that we've been doing, and I've personally done since the pandemic started, is a very unpleasant test for the patient where we put a horrible swab through your nostrils down into the back of your throat. It's called a nasopharyngeal swab and it's not just unpleasant, but it's actually quite dangerous for the person who's doing the tests in terms of infection.
"If we do that swab… the natural response of someone is to sneeze and cough. So I typically do it and try and run away as fast as possible but a lot of our staff get caught with someone coughing over them.
"It's not a very safe test and it takes two to three days for a result to come back. There's actually some tests that we're talking to some companies about that.
"I'd rather get a finger prick than a tree trunk shoved down my nose. It's real time, we get an answer in less than two minutes.
"Alongside smart locations and facilities, [that] is two thirds of the answer to this pandemic," he said.
"I don't see another solution that could be as efficient."
